Porous material manufacture



septyn, 1940. w; 0. mm:

I POROUS MATERIAL MANUFACTURE Filed Dec. 50, 1937 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENIUR. k/IALlh/W Q 4 7 A TTORNEYS.

Patented Sept. 17,1940

' present invention relatesito V ture of glass products and it, has particular relae tiontoprocesses or preparing highly porous or lx'assini bodies or 'glasslby introducing a gas or gent into glassfin molten state. 1

which the niechanicalfdlmculties or distr'ibuting 1thei'bubbles ofbubble-forming materials in the v 1 glassglahd the losses of gases frointhe 'glass Vduringi'dls trlbutlon' ar'e'rduced to a minimum. i

w and o er y biects l b be a p e t m 1 ;;conalderatlon. .01 the followin ,s ec fi f use orbodie'sofglass containing numerous 'small' jbubbles or vesicles l distributed therein vto'f term a; porous mass, asameat and sound insulatby addition of a refractory "solid such" as silicon carbide toprovlde pointsoi' departurel Ilncorpo ration of a gassing'fmedium such aswater, or car-- bonaceousrnat'erial, or the like, into a body; or

molten glass which lsjthen allowed to expand un-Q der the action'oi thejgases generated to'fill a suit J .ablefmoldhas also beensug'gested. These proo esses: as heretoror e proposed have been i'ntermittentin' operationand' the time and labor consurned therein have been excessive. Moreover ,-lnt practicing themjuniform distribution of; the solid .materlal in the, glasswithout loss of the evolved The present invention involves the provision or, a process of preparing a cellular glass in'which,

molten or at least plastic glass containing bubbles of a gas such as carbon dioxide, steam, or air are botto e adequate level 01' the material' 'in the column.

For a fibett'er understanding of the invention I Fl'g; :1 is; a ycros's-sectionafl view of a' suitable em v slightlymodifled fo'rni-ofthe'lnvention; i

I l ,Inthef orm ofthe invention illustrated} glassj infmolten state is: containediin a container such object oi theiinvention is toprovide proo as oi p jfiparlng' porous orcellular glass which is;v subfstantially'i contir'iuous in 1 operation and in forced-continuously or-intermittently by pressure' frorr'ra column or other 'suit ablereceptacle through-c an orifice placedatjor adjacenttothe {of the" column whilernolten glass,' glass- I r;forming ingredients orc'rushed glass-are "added 1 45''continuo'uslyor intermittentl'yas require'd'at the;

top oi. the container or. column to maintain an arduous-ennui M William 0. new xens'in tkimfriu,as ignor' j a to Pittsburgh Plate Glass Company,, Allegheny j 'County, Pat, acorporation-ol'Penpsylvania' "1 7' I Application oe embereo, 1937, serial 3161182363 e m-1wan) as.v a pot orlta'nk 1' and is fed through a nozzle or heated by passage of electrodes l0 suitably umnar: form which may be electrical current between spoutll' into the topof the containerl of cola;

spaced .therein, or resistance coi1s'"-or 'even"by heated'gasesin suitable'tubes.- The latter con- 1.

tremity;the1feof'with'-a laterally-extending branch I I having upwardly inclined portion I I that 'ter I minates" in a' horizontally-extending portion l 3, which portion-is red with a'bubble-forming ma-j t'ainer visprovided at-or adjacerit to the lower 6X7 terial such asfair or steam/by means of aninlet" conduit. 14; wobviously; if gases or like material is: to be introduced into the glass simple hydro-L staticpressure will'be sufilcient; However, if'pulverulent material such as calcium carbonate or a I porousmaterial such asvermiculite is tojbein troduced a suitable screw conveyor '(notshown orl other instrumentalitmfor forcing the material into the stream of glass, will'berequire'd. Glass in crushedor cullet' form may be introduced atthe top of column 9. A mixture ofsa'nd'and' other glass-forming.- constituentsmay also be introduced" and i melted down toform glass in 'the column, m t E i The horizontal portion of the branch 1 liter-* minates .i'nan' inwardly flared tip 15 that discharges; into an 'g outwardlyv flaring nozzle l6, thereby, providingfa Venturi-like throat The nozzle discharges between at'pair of vertically spaced'conveyorsl {I and l8, orrollers-Iormed -01 a heat-resistant material, which conveyors carry l away the-sheet of: cellular glass and alsoasslst in forming'it to uniform thickness.

Forpurposes of increasingor'maintainingthe porosity of the cellular sheetwhlleiit is still pla'stic a vacuum chamber =I 9 may be provided to enclose the rear- ,endsof conveyorsl'l and I8 and may be joined "to nozzle 16. A-conduit'tflconnects the chamber with a-source (not, shown) of vacuum;

" Themode of operation ofthis embodiment of apparatusyis practically self evident. Molten glass from tank 'I,i s allowed to discharge into the 7 column 9 or pulverized glass,=or glass-forming ingredient's aresimply added to the column 9 and are.,then,melted down into liquid state; -;The-

pressure of the head'of'moltenglass inithe col-f;

, V J I p umn and preferably just prior to its entrance into j,

bodlment of Iappar'atus' for practlcingwhe inven 'tion and Fig. 2 is across-sectional view of a" Y moltenpglassthusliormedisl. forcedoutwardly; e through Ii the passage ll. under; the hydrostatic reterencemay behad to; the drawingsin which thetip'lS it is charged'with gas,, either directly I by'i'n'jec'ting a gas such as air, or by forcing in a streamfof pulverized calcium carbonate Loft; 7 miculit'e', or similar material which byreason of I the heat and/orchemi'cal actionfrom the molten I tainer.

glass liberates gas to formv numerous bubbles.

These bubbles as the material passes through the. tip are uniformly distributed throughout the As the plastic mass stream of moving material. emerges from the tip into the nozzle IS the heated gases expand gradually as the nozzle flares out wardly and thereby provide a uniformly porous body, the apparent specific gravity of which can conveyors l1 and shown); for purposes of annealingtorelieve any internal strains therein.

sions.

lar glass into blocks as it flows out of the con- 1 like thecontainer 9 maybe. open at the upper ex glass, or solid but pulverized glass, orglass-form-..

' ing ingredients. Such means comprises an inlettremity,:oras shown in the drawing is .closed and is provided with means for introducing molten 1 26 opening upward into a chamber .21 constitutingan air lock which in turnwcommunicates 1 throughthroat 28 witha hopper 29. Suitable valves, e. g. slide valves 30,

sponding to tively in inlet-26, and throat, 28, .and admit of dropping the contents of hopper. 29 into air-lock chamber 21 and from there into the container 25 without substantial loss of pressure in the latter.

Electrodes3l corresponding to electrodes l0,'are

disposedincontainer 25 to obtain ormaintaina desired temperature in the glass... A laterally-extending branch. 32 ,at or near the J lower extremity of the container having: inlets :33 jfor admissionof a gas and substantiallycorre branch I I will not be described in detail. In this form of the invention; the' nozzle corresponding to nozzle I6 is omitted. However; a shear blade 34 sliding upon or adjacent tothe face of the airoutlettip 36 similar to tip I5is 'disposed transversely of the'path of flow-of the cel-- The shear. bladeyis rigidly secured upon the extremity of a piston rod which re- 'ciprocates within a cylinder 38- to (which any suitable actuating fluid may beadmitted through lular glass.

conduits; .39 that discharge into opposite ends thereof. 'Portions or gobs of plastic cellular glass severed by the shear blade drop'into aidownwardly sloping chute 4|, the upper extremity of which is disposed below the tip 36;

Molds42 are disposed at the lower extremity of the chute in position to receive'the gobs of fluid.

cellular glass and may be disposed upon 'any'suitable stationary .or movable support. 'A'station-fl ary platform upon which the molds are placed or along. which they are slid *either manually or mechanically. would be the simplest support. However, in the drawings they are shown as trav-' eling upon an endless'conveyor 43 of belt or'chain type, trained about a rolleror-sprock'e't 44.: They might also becarried'upon aturr'et construction revolving in a horizontal plane'in' a manner simiin a conventional bottle I lar to thatof the molds v blowing machine. A second belt or conveyor 45 trained "about roller 46v is disposed above and'in" parallelism 'to conveyor 43 in position to contact with the molds and movesin synchronism'there with to provide a moving cover therefor.

Subsequently. theic'ellue lar product is cut into blocks of desired dimenated hydrostatically In Fig. 2 is shown means for molding the cellu-.,

;In this form of the-invention-a; pot .or tank 25 which corresponds to the container-'9, and; I

severing a portion or are disposed. respec-- or other gassing agent, admixed with crushed agent to produce bubbles in theglass Iii-the.

I lass, the molten lass at the expansion or maintain the form of the glass in the molds by application of a vacuum thereto. This is easily accomplished by providing open-2 ings in the conveyor 45 toregi'ster with the molds 5" Conduits 41 having close fitting, relatively I 42'. I refractory terminalsymay then'be manually in- -serted in these openings and the gases in the molds-drawn ofi. After expansion of the contents of a mold thejconduit may? be withdrawn. In the operation of-the apparatus, pulverized glass or molten glass is introduced at the'top 01' 1 columnar tank 25 and when sumciently fluidor ifalready fluid, while still in that state; passes downwardly through the tank and outvmrtlly ,through branch 32.

fNear the tip of-the latter gases are introduced into the molten mass, which" preferably is under substantial pressure gener umn 25'and/or by the action of the gases intro? duced or liberated in the apparatus. Assuming that the shear blade '34 is retracted the mixture of gas and air will tend to flow out and when a? sufiicientbody has been emitted fluid isadmitted' to cylinder 38 to reciprocate the shearblade, th

passes down the chute r l lfinto a mold qp conveyor 43.; Inthe molds it gradually expands,

1 which expansionm'ay beincreasedbyievacuating] the molds. Conveyor 4 5 contacting with,the top". Q

of the mold as itpasses away from the chutelirn; its the expansion of'th'e' massja'nd'provides a" smooth uppers'urface. I

It will be' appreciated that calcium carbonate;

glass or with glass-fo ming vingredient si may be fed through hopper29 and upon melting. orsi n f teringof the glass or glass-forming materials generated by the g'ass'in s ga ent is thus supplied, conduits. H

33 need not be employed. 'i

In the embodiments "of l the iiiventiohfhr'inj disclosed, the glass as it 'approachesthe outlet o 5 the lateral branch is 'rnovir gjna. relatively ireel stricted channel and therefore at .substantial speed. All of thesefactors' promoteuniformity of J admixture of the gas in the glass. Moreover,- the c I upward bend in the; lateral branch insures that the bubbles as they are formedwill' be carried forward concurrently with the glass ratherlthan flowing backward into the main chamber. "I I Although only the preferred forms of the fin vention' are shown anddescribedrit will e pear it -1 ent that the numerous modificationsxmaylbe made therein without departure fromthespirit of the invention orthe scope ofl th'e appended claims. H Y

WhatIclaimis: i

1. A process, of preparing cellularv glassowhich comprise's'flowing molten glass as a streamunden substantialpressure through a passagehayingai I restrictedfthroat, introducing gases as bubbles into the portion of the mass underfpressure adJa-, 65

cent to the throat whileleaving the remoteportions substantially free of gases,.flowing the gasi-- fled material under pressure throughthe throat: portionv ofthe passage; and into a zoneof relatively reduced pressure-wherebyto ,expand' the i p I gasesand to provide a coherent highly cellulatedi body of .glass,. and cooling, the body-into a solid state.

2. A processor preparing cellular glassiwhich O Drisesfilling a vertical. column with molten the-bottom of the column being under substantial hydrostatic pressure resulting from the glass above, introducing gas into the portion of molten glass under pressure, then flowing the gasifled material under pressure into a zone of relatively reduced pressure whereby to allow the gases to expand and form a highly cellulated coherent body, then cooling the body. r v

3. A process of forming cellular glass which comprises filling 'a vertical column with molten glass, the lower portion of which is under substantial hydrostatic pressure, flowing the glass at the bottornfof the column laterally and forcing it through a restricted orifice into a zone of relatively reduced pressure, admixing gas with the molten glass, while it is flowing laterally and before passing through-the orifice, whereby the gas is expanded to'provide a highly cellulated' body.

' 4. An apparatus for forming multi-cellular glass comprising a vertical column constituting a container for a head of molten glass in which the glass at the bottom of the column is under substantial hydrostatic pressure. from the head of molten glass 'in'the column, said column havinz adjacent to the bottom thereof, a laterally and upwardly-projecting branch, adapted to be filled with the molten glass under hydrostatic pressure, the branch being provided at the tip thereof with a restricted nozzle discharging into amne of substantially less pressure than that of the hydrostatic head and conduit means for'introducing gases into the lateral branch back of the restrlcted nozzle, but in such manner as to prevent backward flow of the bubblesof gas into the column, whereby the molten glass containing gases admixed therewith is forced through the restricted nozzle by hydrostatic pressure of the head of molten glass into the zone of relatively reduced pressure, in order to expand the g and form a highly cellulated body.

wrr-msm 0.1mm. 

